Winter Dust
by WinterDust
Summary: To the swordsman, it wasn’t surprising that all Luffy did was laugh, while all he could do was stare helplessly at the bright red cloth being consumed by all the white on this island. ZoLu


Author's Note: Wow, this was a real struggle for me to write, mainly because it took a long time (being pushed off by the Ahiru bunnies) and partly because it was in a style I wasn't really comfortable with. Mmm, I'm not very happy with the result, but please enjoy!

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If Zoro had been a poet, he would've called him beautiful –beautiful in an awkward way, never graceful but nevertheless always full of confidence.

But Zoro isn't a poet; his mouth is too foul and his speech too coarse. So he doesn't speak, knowing that he would stain the picture if he allows anything to spill out of his mouth. _Like the ink and the paint that spills across the deck; Luffy laughs as he runs from Usopp, paintbrush in hand._ He observes the scene once more, dark eyes resting on the lithe figure scurrying about the falling snow.

He'd never find enough words to describe him, the boy with obsidian eyes and ear-splitting grin, dancing to the tunes of a never-ending melody, tanned cheeks dusted a light pink from the winter air.

* * *

d.u.s.t.

* * *

Ever since that fight with Aokiji, Luffy hadn't been very fond of the cold, although he still consumed ice cream and other cold confectionaries with unfaltering vigor; the captain was also very fond of sliding on the ice –a habit he picked up after fighting the Accino Family in Lovely Land.

Despite all the fun that he had in the snow and on the ice, Luffy disliked the chilly bite of the wind that always, _always _reminded him of his failure to protect his crew from a very dangerous threat.

This was why Zoro carried an extra jacket out when the StrawHats docked at a winter island. His captain was forgetful, even when it concerned his own discomfort with the cold. It had first been Nami's job, then Sanji's (because he would do _anything _for his lovely Nami-swan), only to be passed to Zoro (because the shitty-marimo didn't have any responsibilities on or off the ship), just as all other things concerning Luffy passed onto him.

He vaulted himself over the railings of the Thousand Sunny, and snow crunched under his feet as he landed, a coat in one hand and a Pirate-Bento in the other. Immediately afterwards, he stalked off to find Luffy, knowing that the Idiot Captain would lose his way as usual.

"Oi! Luffy!" his voice bounced off of the surroundings, overpowering the soft noise his footsteps made as he continued his trek, "Luffy!"

Silence greeted him, hand-in-hand with a chilly breeze.

His breaths created swirls of mist around his face and obscured his vision. The winds were getting stronger, and the flecks of snow were getting larger and more violent. Luffy was probably freezing his ass off and hypothermia was probably settling in—probably.

Zoro squinted, allowing his eyes to focus a bit more towards the distance, but all that he saw was snow. There was no trace of clumsy movements anywhere. The wind played havoc with the outlines of his breaths and the winter air dusted his cheeks pink.

"Zooorooo! Wait up!"

A faint sound of raucous laughter was the only sound Zoro picked up before he felt the impact on his back as well as the cold snow on his face soon afterwards. He lost grip on the bento and the jacket and a bit of his sanity. Whatever curse that fell out of his mouth disappeared into the snow.

The swordsman turned and the rubber boy shifted, lifting his hips and firmly planting his knees on both sides of Zoro's torso. The wind was still as merciless as ever, and Zoro blamed the pink on his cheeks on the stinging coldness of the snow, although he only felt warmth.

There was more of that damned white mist swirling in between them, because Roronoa Zoro wasn't the only one out of breath from that fall. Luffy's hat was askew and his chest was rising and falling, rising and falling, rising and falling. There was too much mist, but Zoro didn't have to squint to see that wide grin on his captain's face.

His fingers twitched, because the Idiot Captain's arms were bare, and the jacket was no longer in his immediate possession, "The jacket."

"What?"

"The jacket. Take. The. Damned. Jacket." Because otherwise, Luffy would die of hypothermia, Zoro was sure of it.

"Oh," Luffy laughed, voice loud and not trembling even a bit from the chill, "where is it?" Nothing could have prepared them for the strong gust of wind right then, blasting the very jacket that the First Mate had brought for his captain.

It wasn't long before it disappeared from sight, covered by the cold mist fogging up the atmosphere.

To the swordsman, it wasn't surprising that all Luffy did was laugh, while all he could do was stare helplessly at the bright red cloth being consumed by all the white on this island. And Zoro saw that shiver hidden underneath the carefree smile, and the faint trace of goose bumps littering the toned, bare arms.

Luffy wasn't very fond of the cold at all, but he was still here, still smiling, still laughing. So if anything, as the First Mate, he had to ignore that shiver and those goose bumps, because the Captain had to remain infallible and stronger than ever.

Sighing, Zoro braced himself for the cold and opened his own jacket, lifting the flaps away to invite his Captain in; Luffy didn't waste a second, rubbery arms wrapping tightly around the other man's torso to get away from those reminders that pricked him and prodded him in the icy wind.

"Come on, we gotta get back to the ship," the swordsman stood up as he zipped his jacket closed over Luffy (he vaguely wondered if this was how it felt like to be pregnant).

"Zoro, that." The boy squeezed him tightly to get his attention, nodding his furiously towards a certain direction. Zoro thought that his jacket would rip if Luffy moved any more.

He turned, looking aimlessly towards an equally aimless direction, "What?" His annoyance was too apparent in his gruff voice.

"That. _That_ – the Pirate Bento."

Zoro was glad that the two of them were far, _far _away from the ship and the rest of the crew, because he was sure that his struggles to pick up the bundle of food while lugging a laughing Luffy around in his jacket would have been forever made fun of (Sanji), used as blackmail material (Nami), and even graffitied onto the bathroom door (Usopp) of the Thousand Sunny.

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d.u.s.t.

* * *

When he came back with Luffy wrapped around his stomach with only a Pirate Bento in hand and no jacket two hours later (he had gotten lost along the way), Nami added to his dept the price of the lost jacket plus the interest of two hours, which led to another fight between Sanji and Zoro –one protecting Nami's dignity and the other trying to destroy it.

And a picture of Zoro struggling to fight Sanji while lugging a laughing Luffy around in hi s jacket was graffitied onto the bathroom door of the Thousand Sunny.

* * *

Author's Note: Yeah...not very good. XP. Still, I would appreciate reviews! I hope to write more One Piece stuff... so look forward to it! Loooove!


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